This Is No Longer Politics, Its Personal, And That's Why We Need A GE And A Clear Winner

A former Tory MP has revealed that he received a death threat while travelling to the Conservative Party Conference.

It came just hours after Dominic Grieve and several other MPs were accused of receiving help from the EU in drafting a bill to block a no-deal Brexit.

Mr Grieve said he received an email - which he passed on to police - while making his way by train to Manchester.

The former attorney general was one of 21 MPs to be stripped of the Conservative Party whip earlier this month after they voted against the Government in a bid to block a no-deal Brexit.

Speaking after the first day of the conference, which was overshadowed by Boris Johnson defending his links to an American businesswoman who allegedly receivedgrants and access to business trips, while he was in City Hall, as well as claims by a journalist that the Prime Minister squeezed a journalist's thigh under the table, Mr Grieve accused Downing Street of issuing false briefings about MPs trying to block a no-deal Brexit.

The Beaconsfield MP said he received the death threat following reports in the Mail On Sunday that Downing Street had launched a major investigation after receiving intelligence MPs, including himself, had received help in drafting the legislation from members of the French government and the EU, as "complete rubbish" and that there had been "no collusion".

The newspaper quoted a senior No 10 source as saying that "extensive" inquiries were under way into former Conservative ministers Sir Oliver Letwin and Mr Grieve and the senior Labour MP Hilary Benn.

The source is quoted as saying: "We will demand the disclosure of all details of their personal communications with other states.

"The drafting of primary legislation in collusion with foreign powers must be fully investigated."

The Beaconsfield MP said that reports such as this which are coming from Downing Street are "not true" and that all they serve to do is "diminish trust levels" that the public have in politicians.

He added that "one of the immediate consequences" of this lack of trust was "whipping up a political frenzy" which resulted in "death threats".

Mr Grieve said this "whipping up the heat may be electorally advantageous further down the road, but it's a very dangerous thing to do in a democracy, because once you start this, you start to raise the temperature on all sides... and above all, if you start telling lies and saying things you have no rational basis to believe are true, you are doing a very grave disservice, and it's a rather unconservative thing to do".

He also attacked the Prime Minister as having "some very serious flaws", one of which was "trust".

Despite having the whip withdrawn, Mr Grieve said he remained a "Conservative to my fingertips and I'm pleased to be at the conference".

He also said he would not vote against the Government in any vote of no confidence - which is looking more and more likely - because he did not want to "facilitate the arrival" of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in Downing Street.